Undergraduate Degrees

Major Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts in Religion

The department major requires REL 301 Introduction to the Study of Religion (preferably taken at the beginning of the student's major courses) and REL 401 Seminar in Religious Studies. In addition, students will select six upper division courses for a total of 24 units from the list below. The total unit requirement for the major is 32 upper-division units.

Students who intend to do graduate work in some area of religious studies are encouraged to concentrate their course selections in the area of their preference and to begin learning the languages that are essential for study in that area. This includes modern languages such as French, German, Chinese or Japanese, and perhaps an ancient language.

Religion Major with Honors

Majors who wish to graduate from the university with honors in religion must achieve a minimum 3.5 grade point average in the major at the time of graduation. In addition to completing the required 32 units listed above, candidates for honors must register for REL 491x Undergraduate Honors Research, in which they must complete an acceptable senior honors project in religion. The total unit requirement to graduate with honors is 36 upper division units.

Honor Society

Theta Alpha Kappa is a national honor society for those involved in the study of religion at the undergraduate and graduate level. It is open to declared majors who have completed at least three semesters of college and at least 12 units of religion courses. Students must have a GPA of at least 3.5 in major courses and an overall GPA of at least 3.0.

Judaic Studies Emphasis Major

A Bachelor of Arts in Religion with an emphasis in Judaic Studies is offered cooperatively with the School of Religion and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Students will complete all requirements for the bachelor of arts in religion. In fulfilling these requirements, students who choose the Judaic Studies emphasis will select any three of the following courses: REL 312; JS 321, JS 361, JS 382, JS 467.

As a prerequisite for participation in the Judaic Studies emphasis, students must enroll in either JS 100 Jewish History or JS 180 Introduction to Judaism. In addition, students who elect the Judaic Studies emphasis must complete HEBR 120, HEBR 150, and HEBR 220, which may be used to fulfill the college's language requirement.

The total number of units to graduate with the Judaic Studies emphasis major is 36 units. This does not include the Hebrew language requirement.

Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Archaeology

Religion Minor

Students taking the religion minor must enroll in REL 301 Introduction to the Study of Religion. In addition, they must complete four upper division courses selected from those listed in the religion major requirements. The total unit requirement for the minor is 20 units.

Students who wish to focus their minor in Jewish studies must minor in Judaic Studies.

Ancient Religion and Classical Languages Minor

This minor is offered collaboratively by the Classics Department and the School of Religion. It is designed for students who want exposure to Greek or Latin and are interested in the broader ancient Mediterranean world. Students are encouraged to investigate ancient studies through archaeology, Greek and Roman culture, politics, religion, mythology, literature, and biblical studies in accord with their individual interests.

Students in good standing may apply for admission to the program. Application forms may be obtained from the School of Religion.

The ancient religion and classical languages minor requires three classics courses (including two semesters of Greek or Latin) and three religion courses from the following list:

Four upper division courses (16 units) are required. Normally students will take two upper division courses in classics and two upper division religion courses from the list above. An exception to this may occur when a student's two language courses are both taken at the lower division level. In that case, three upper division religion courses from the list above may count toward the degree. Students must take six courses for a total of 24 units to complete the minor.